The representatives of IT profession often suffer from lack of soft skills. The stereotype is that the IT person sits in front of their PC the whole day, is socially isolated, have friends only in the virtual worlds and is, to some extent, excluded from the society. What is very much needed nowadays is the ability for IT people to communicate with others, to express themselves, to voice out their doubts and opinions. In the collaborative environment of software development the possession and use of soft skills enhances the likelihood of an individual’s success (International Journal of Information Processing and Management/IJIPM, 2013). IT companies suffer from lack of soft skills enabled employees. Even if they are the best ones in their professional field, inability to communicate hampers the growth of the company. Although the software industry is paying attention to soft skills up to some extent, there is a need to further acknowledge the role of these skills in software development (IJIPM, 2013). On the other hand, those form the IT area who demonstrate strong communication skills are in high demand. They take managerial positions or are often employed as analysts or as consultants. This clearly shows that strong soft skills are even more important than had skills which, in comparison, can be gained more easily. Further exposure to and enhanced understanding of soft skills from the software industry can help an appreciation of this fact to flourish. Achieving such a variety of skills would enable us to bring a richness of talent and points of view to bear upon the inherent complexity of software systems (IJIPM, 2013).The objective of the SayIT project is looking for strengthening key competences in initial and continuing VET for IT professionals through reinforcing their soft skills and making them more qualified and competitive on a professional level.The two main results that the SayIT project will elaborate are:IO1 - Soft Skills curriculum for IT ProfessionalsThe first Intellectual Output will serve as a guidance for vocational institutions and relevant stakeholders in the field. Its aim will be to design the curriculum that will build upon the development of soft skills for IT professionals. The Curriculum will be a proposal of holistic approach towards upskilling IT professionals in the area of soft skills.IO2 - Soft Skills Trainer appThe second Intellectual Output will be an innovative training app for IT professionals that will allow them to raise their vocational qualifications in the area of soft skills. With the use of the visual novel methodology, it will put IT professionals into simulated environment, test their reactions and provide them with relevant learning resources.SayIT project will address primarily IT professionals who are hampered in their professional development due to the lack of relevant soft skills. The project will also address relevant stakeholders who can influence the training programmes offered for the representatives of the IT sector.The expected impact of the SayIT project can be characterised as increased awareness of the importance of soft skills among IT professionals which translates directly to the impact specific for the Key Action 2 as set forth in the Erasmus+ Guide: “education systems that are better aligned to the needs of and opportunities offered by the labour market” and also “improved provision and assessment of basic and transversal skills”. IT professionals reached by SayIT project activities should ideally have better understanding and recognition of skills and qualifications related especially to the IT professions, improved access to innovative learning materials tailored to the IT professions, improved career opportunities through application of soft skills training, improved professional behaviours thanks to increased recognition of soft skills, and finally, increased satisfaction from working in a professional environment.Through the planned activities, SayIT project is expected to contribute towards the shift in perceiving the qualities that constitute a successful and valuable IT professional on the labour market.

The European economy is on the precipice of the 4th Industrial revolution, defined by emerging technologies that have the potential to disrupt the careers of millions of workers. Industry 4.0 will increasingly change the way companies do business and, consequently, the skills set needed by their workforce. Current and future workers will need to adapt to new working methods arising from Industry 4.0 by updating their knowledge, skills and competences. However, the current VET programs are not commonly supporting the development of these skills so there is an urgent need to strengthen the VET curricula content in order to equip VET learners with key competencies required by Industry 4.0 jobs. Into the group of those learners fall SME decision makers who as the current state of art suggests, are not aware of Industry 4.0 potential, but also risks and challenges. This is a knowledge gap which needs to be addressed. Industry 4.0 (Ind4.0) is a term for the next revolution in industrial production involving comprehensive networking and computerisation of all areas of production. The so called full-circle of Industry 4.0 is composed of Internet of things, Additive Manufacturing, Systems Integration, Big Data, Augmented Reality, Cyber Security, Simulation, Autonomous Systems and Cloud Computing. The challenges in implementing all those components are massive, not only for SMEs, but also for large corporations.Clearly not all technologies are immediately applicable for SMEs, however the technology can be implemented step by step, using good practices and easing financial costs over short time.Recent developments indicate that the biggest impulse for the popularisation of Industry 4.0 comes from large industries. They have the resources to switch to networked production and the economic benefits for them are already high. The impact of Industry 4.0 increases with every new network partner, so large companies will encourage their SME suppliers to adapt to this trend. For many SMEs, this change might not be optional, either they adapt to the new business reality, or risk losing the market.The main aim of the SEE4.0 project is to strengthen key competences (required by Industry 4.0) of SMEs owners and managers through developing innovative training materials in order to train and equip this group with Industry 4.0 relevant knowledge, skills and competences. SMEs having owners and managers aware of Ind4.0 and equipped with skills to implement Ind4.0 solutions, that are inevitable in today's and future business market conditions, will have ability to gain competitiveness. It will do it through developing an Introducing Industry 4.0 to SMEs – practical implementation paper, SEE4.0 modular training components and SEE4.0 toolkit with customised learning paths. The content produced by the project will be tailored to the needs of learners, as practical as possible, with case studies and best practices gathered right from the field where SME operate, in contrast to many already available theoretical materials, coming from research organisations or consulting companies, hardly applicable in SME settings.Target groupsThe primary target group are SME owners, managers at various levels and all personnel delegated to pursuing Industry 4.0 challenges. Secondary target group are VET trainers, training organizations and identified stakeholders, related to SME-connected structures (e.g. Chambers of Commerce, Clusters, Business Clubs, professional organisations) and Public officials responsible for VET policy-making.The partners in the project are:1. Danmar Computers LLC (Poland) – applicant, SME with expertise in e-learning, ICT, VET2. Ludor Engineering (Romania) - SME with expertise in I4.0 /3D printing / CAD / CAM / IoT3. FYG (Spain) - SME with expertise in I4.0 and VET training4. University “Politechnika” of Bucharest (Romania) - Technical University; Curricula and courseware expert5. MECB (Malta) - SME with expertise in I4.0 /robotics /automation / IoT6. HCCI (Greece) - Chamber of Commerce supporting SMEs across Europe with particular focus on business innovation7. KAINOTOMIA (Greece) - Well-established VET institution cooperating with SMEs and understanding their business needsThe main expected impact of the project is the reduction of the skills mismatch related to Ind4.0 by equipping SMEs owners and managers with the SEE4.0 training toolkit and allowing them to acquire IND4.0 skills that are inevitable in today's and future business market conditions.

The need for supporting innovation-driven entrepreneurship in Europe as a vehicle for boosting its competitiveness and growth has been evidenced and adopted as one of the key targets and priorities of EU policy and initiatives (The Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014, 2014, WEF). Empirical analysis shows that innovation, can account for a substantial share of economic growth – often around 50% of total GDP growth – depending on various factors (OECD STI Policy 2015). Innovative SMEs have been already identified as one of the groups which EU funding tools should support, however the majority of EU SMEs still lag behind in innovation capacity and innovation management capacity skills. As expected, the above hold true for Greek SMEs. The 2017 SBA Fact Sheet clearly shows Greek SMEs score below the EU28 average in their capacity to convert new-to-market and new-to-firm innovations into sales. At the same time, Greek SMEs introducing product or process innovations score higher than the EU average. Under this frame, the Enterprise Europe Network-Hellas (FPA 649598), a well-placed and experienced network of experts and organisations, working in close proximity to Greek SMEs, will advance its support to the innovative companies by providing complementary services for the enhancement of their innovation management capacity. The proposed action aims to: • Identify SMEs with the capacity to innovate and internationalise, provide them with the tailored services to improve their capacity to manage innovation processes • Support SMEs to utilize the opportunities offered under the SME Instrument, Fast Track to Innovation and Future Emerging Technologies OPEN programmes • Support business innovators with international ambitions to translate their ideas into market success • Foster the innovation potential of SMEs that, compared to large companies, have limited capacity for risky/costly R&D activities and consulting services • Offer targeted assistance on innovation managemen

<< Background >>On March 7, 2019, the women’s European Committee of COPA, held the conference “Strong rural women 4 strong rural Europe”. The conference dealt with the gender gap in agriculture all over Europe and concluded with the realization that further action and initiatives need to follow on a European and member states’ level in order to increase the number of female entrepreneurs participating in the agricultural sector. As it was pointed out, in order to achieve the above, focus should shift to educating and facilitating women’s access to agricultural training and life-long learning based on their specific needs, and social contexts.All above realizations are supported by official European Statistics which reveal that the agricultural sector in the EU is a male dominated sector with only 28,7% (2016) of farm managers being women, a percentage that has slightly increased in the years from 2005 to 2016, indicating that female farmers are holding steady, (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Statistics- 2020 edition). It was also indicated that only 8,9% of farm managers had full agricultural training, 22,7% had basic agricultural training, while the majority of farmers only had practical experience. Along those lines, the article published by the EC on 8 March 2021, entitled “Females in the field” highlights the importance of women in agriculture, as well as EC’s commitment in supporting them through the income support system, the rural development funds and the CAP. Even though above realizations are embraced by the official European Bodies, little action is taken to overturn the existing state of women in agriculture. The situation is even more alarming with regards to women in rural areas where they represent 45% of the economically active population, and about 40% of them work on family farms. However, the number of women showcasing entrepreneurial initiative is limited due to the lack of financial resources, training and lifelong learning.The proposed project “DEMETRA: Developing Entrepreneurial skills & tools for woMEn in agriculTure in Rural Areas” comes as response to this lack and was designed by a consortium of 7 partners form 6 different EU countries (Cyprus, Greece, Germany, Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic), in order to address the consortium's common interests and needs with regards to the above. In all participating countries it is observed that there low participation of women in agricultural entrepreneurial activity. The percentage of women farm managers in Greece, Cyprus, Slovenia and Poland is 27%-20% while in Germany and the Czech Republic is as low as 10% and 12% respectively. This project is an effort to create the conditions for women in rural areas to be involved in the agricultural sector, by providing the tools for educating them on agricultural entrepreneurship, and offer them the ability to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and skills.On the whole, the project addresses the need to better understand existing and needed competences of women in rural areas with regards to agricultural entrepreneurship and promote a more inclusive context for their participation in the filed. At the same time, this project, is the consortium’s response to the need of these women for education through a specifically designed innovative curriculum, platform and a mentoring scheme reflecting on women’s current needs on agricultural entrepreneurship training and also a response to lack of resources for VET providers on the topic.<< Objectives >>The overall objective of DEMETRA is to facilitate the development of agricultural entrepreneurial skills and tools for women in rural areas. In doing so the project aims at recognizing the needs and gaps with regards to women’s education and competences in the area of agricultural entrepreneurship and device the tools that will facilitate their education and overall knowledge in order to cover those needs and gaps.The specific objectives of the project are to:· Create a network of partners, share practices and strengthen their capacity to work transnationally through the cooperation in the full lifespan of the project and the joint activities proposed in this project in the area of women’s education on agricultural entrepreneurship. · In depth analysis of the context within which women agriprenuers are called to act by creating a clear picture of women agripreneurs, their level of education and competences in the field and their educational needs while at the same time recording the gaps and obstacles they need to tackle on a national and European level and developing policy recommendations.· Develop an innovative educational curriculum for educating women on greener, more sustainable models of agricultural entrepreneurship (as brought forward by the Green Deal and supported through the CAP policy) as well as other entrepreneurial skills.· Develop a digital tool for enabling women with limited access to education in order to further pursue their agripreneurial education.· Provide access for women in rural areas to educational programmes in the field of agricultural entrepreneurship, designed specifically based on their needs and provide them with up-to-date knowledge by experts and successful professionals.· Connect women agripreneurs with the labour market by bringing them into contact with agricultural businesses and agricultural stakeholders.· Raise awareness on the issues of gender inequalities within the agricultural labour market and the access to entrepreneurial education and skill training.These project objectives are in line with the Horizontal priorities of the ERASMUS+ programme on Inclusion and diversity in all fields of education, training, youth and sports and Environment and fight against climate change. Additionally, the project also addresses the sectoral priority of adapting vocational education and training to labour market needs.<< Implementation >>Throughout the lifespan of the project, a series of activities are going to be implemented which are all interconnected and complementary to each other in order to safeguard the achievement of all objectives set and the maximum possible impact of the overall project: Those activities are:5 Transnational Project Meetings (TPMs). (3 with physical presence M2, M13, M24 and two online meetings M7, M18). The TPMs will be held with the purpose of better coordination among the partners ensuring that they all will be aware of the project’s progress and the decisions taken for all aspects of the project’s monitoring and implementation processes. Additionally, the transnational project meetings will ensure that all partners are informed about the activities that need to be implemented, the timeframe of those activities and that they are actively contributing to discussions and decision-making procedures.1 short term staff training to take place on M13 of the project in Slovenia. The particular activity will be committed to educating staff members of the partners on DEMETRA platform and the curriculum that will be developed in order to acquire the knowledge required for implementing the pilot course in all partner countries and provide help in the use of the DEMETRA Platform. 7 multiplier events to take place one in each country and two in Cyprus which will involve a wider range of participants from all defined target groups (VET providers, Educational Institutions and other training organizations, Stakeholders in Agricultural, Women in rural areas and other individuals involved in agricultural activity, Businesses & StartUps in related sectors, Decision makers, Media and the General Public) aiming at creating an extended network of contacts for the outreach of project outcomes. This extended participation will be beneficial for the impact of the project’s results as well as for the purposes of reaching out to as many stakeholders and affected parties as possible.A comprehensive dissemination strategy to be implemented throughout the lifespan of the project drafted within the framework of a comprehensive communication campaign. The dissemination strategy will be implemented in order to achieve the maximum outreach possible for all the activities and results of the project. All dissemination activities implemented by the partnership will be supported by the grant for project management.<< Results >>The consortium will cooperate in order to successfully deliver the following project results within the set timeframes as they were recorded in the initial meeting for the drafting of the proposal:DEMETRA Matrix of Competences and Policy Recommendations Report.(PR1) A report will be drafted where the needs and gaps associated with women’s education in agricultural entrepreneurship will be identified. The Green Agripreneur DEMETRA Curriculum. (PR2)The curriculum will be an innovative approach to Women’s Agricultural Entrepreneurship with specific emphasis on environmental agricultural and entrepreneurship offering practical training for the development of skills and competences.DEMETRA The All Encompassing Platform. (PR3) Demetra platform will be designed as an OER in order to be publicly accessible. Through the platform, the curriculum that will be developed in Project Result 2 will be shared with the target groups, that is with women in rural areas who engage in agricultural entrepreneurship, VET providers and educational institutions, trainers, teaching staff and other stakeholders or beneficiaries in the field of agriculture. DEMETRA Pilot Course. (PR4) The pilot course will reflect on the common denominator of meeting the needs of the target group by offering them tools for developing competences and enriching their knowledge in the area of agricultural entrepreneurship based on the Curriculums developed in PR2.DEMETRA Mentoring Scheme. (PR5) Through this scheme mentors will offer up-to-date insights to women who aspire to develop their own business idea in the agricultural sector, as well as provide support and offer solutions to the obstacles and challenges that women may face in this process.Through all above mentioned results, DEMETRA aspires to have a positive impact on the participating organizations, on relevant stakeholders such as agricultural governmental and non governmental organizations, VET providers, Universities and academics who are interested in the field of women’s agricultural entrepreneurship. Additionally DEMETRA will also positively impact women from rural areas with limited access to education who want to develop an entrepreneurial action on the agricultural sector, as well as women from other areas who want to update and enrich their knowledge on agricultural entrepreneurship. Thus the consortium considers that the overall project through its activities and project results will be impacting relevant stakeholders and target audiences not only on a local and national level but on a European level as well.

The project aims to support the innovation management capacity of Greek SMEs as a mean for advancing competitiveness and ensuring growth. Four partners of the Enterprise Europe Network-Hellas will provide mentoring and coaching services on all stages of the innovation management system, including the innovation process from idea generation to innovation results, leadership, management skills and other enabling factors, such as collaboration with R&D partners, clients and suppliers. The service is of particular significance for Greek SMEs that have been seriously affected by the lasting financial recession and need support activities directly aiming at boosting their competitiveness and growth. The proposal addresses the specific objectives of the work programme, namely: a) Identification of bottlenecks in the innovation management process of SMEs benefitting from grants by Horizon 2020’s SME instrument and address these bottlenecks with the help of capable coaches, b) Increase the efficiency and effectiveness of innovation processes in SMEs with significant innovation activities that could potentially become beneficiaries of European support to research and innovation. The service will be delivered by nominated experts of the Enterprise Europe Network-Hellas consortium. 176 service packages (7-days each) are foreseen to be delivered by the end of December 2016, to: a) Beneficiaries of the SME Instrument, b) SMEs with significant be selected based on a multi-parametric process, incorporating both geographical and sectorial criteria. National priorities for research and innovation in Greece and priorities of the Smart Specialization Strategy of each region will be taken into consideration. Common high level quality standards and predefined procedures will be developed for all partners to maximize the efficiency of the service.